Archaeological records indicate that infant swaddling blankets were first used around 4000 B.C. in the desert regions of Central Asia in combination with a back-pack cradle board. As time progressed, the migration of people from region to region became a relatively permanent way of life. Swaddling subsequently also became a common part of child-rearing.
Early swaddling blankets consisted of a square piece of cloth. The infant was laid on the cloth diagonally and the corners of the cloth were folded over the feet, body and under the head, and the corners were tied to hold the blanket in position. A swaddling blanket typically formed the clothing for an infant until the infant was about a year old. The confinement provided by the swaddling blanket provided warmth and security for the infant who had recently left the mother's womb.
Today, swaddling is a standard newborn care practice in most hospitals and consists of swaddling blankets that are tucked and are useful for keeping the baby warm and comfortable, without increasing the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), because the wrappings stay well clear of the baby's face and airway. By the time the infant learns to roll over, usually around 6 months, the infant should be sleeping in less restrictive coverings so it has more freedom to respond when the infant succeeds in rolling over.
Current infant swaddles are designed to make it easier to swaddle an infant than with traditional square sheets or blankets. Typical, swaddling blankets having flaps that fold around the infant's body or down and over the baby's shoulders and around and underneath the infant. These current swaddling blankets have the problem of having a wakeful infant loosening the blanket and kicking the swaddling blanket off. These problems are eliminated or at least minimized by the swaddling blanket and pouch combination disclosed in the instant patent application.
A search of the prior art did not disclose literature or patents that read directly on the claims of the instant invention, however the following U.S. patents are considered related:
U.S. PAT. NO.INVENTORISSUED7,181,789Gatten27 Feb. 20077,043,783Gatten16 May 20066,928,674Blackburn16 Aug. 20056,868,566Gatten22 Mar. 2005
The 7,181,789 patent discloses a swaddling blanket having a back panel that supports an infant from the neck to the feet, a leg pouch that loosely contains the infant's legs, arm restraints that hold the infant's arms against and parallel to the infant's torso, a tapered short blanket arm to wrap over the infant and a tapered long blanket arm. The long blanket arm is dimensioned to wrap around the infant more than once from the opposite direction to provide pressure around the infant's arms and torso.
The 7,043,783 patent discloses a swaddling blanket having a back panel that supports an infant from the neck to the feet, a leg pouch that loosely contains the infant's legs, arm restraints that hold the infant's arms against and parallel to the infant's torso, a tapered short blanket arm to wrap over the infant, and a tapered long blanket arm. The long blanket arm is dimensioned to wrap around the infant more than once from the opposite direction to provide pressure around the infant's arms and torso.
The 6,928,674 patent discloses a swaddling blanket which includes a tri-folded fabric sheet having a middle section with a pocket secured to an inner side of the fabric sheet on two adjacent sides to form a pouch. The pouch is dimensioned to receive an infant feet-first and is open on two other adjacent sides, and having left and right sections that border the middle section on opposite sides thereof and a width that is sufficient to overlap an infant in the middle section pocket. The left and right sections carry cooperating fasteners arranged to releasably secure the left and right sections to each other when overlapped abut an infant in the middle section pocket.
The 6,868,566 patent discloses a swaddling blanket having a back panel that supports an infant from the neck to the feet, a leg pouch that loosely contains the infant's legs, arm restraints that hold the infant's arms against and parallel to the infant's torso, a tapered short blanket arm to wrap over the infant, and a tapered long blanket arm. The long blanket arm is dimensioned to wrap around the infant more than once from the opposite direction to provide pressure around the infant's arms and torso.
For background purposes and as indicative of the art to which the invention relates, references may be made to the following remaining patents found in the search:
U.S. PAT. NO.INVENTORISSUED7,254,849Fiebrich et al14 Aug. 20077,076,819Trani et al18 Jul. 20066,457,193Li1 Oct. 20026,415,442Smith9 Jul. 20025,611,095Schneider18 Mar. 19974,979,250Troncone et al25 Dec. 19904,125,903Farrell21 Nov. 1978